


Confidence is Key

by puzzlingnerd57



Series: Smosh Squad Shots [1]
Category: Smosh
Genre: Again, Courtney and Olivia are good bros, Courtney curses, Emotion overload, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Homosexual relationship, M/M, Noah is sensitive, POV Third Person, Shayne curses, Shayne is bad at feelings, Shopping, Since there are now two of them, Smosh Squad - Freeform, Some angst, The 1st clothes swap, There are some F-bombs, These tags are all fact, You've been warned, i warned you, or gals, seriously, without the smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 12:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12481960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puzzlingnerd57/pseuds/puzzlingnerd57
Summary: The clothes swap has left Noah worried, Courtney ready to kill someone, Keith confused, Olivia ready to help everyone, and Shayne wondering what to do. Or the one where Shayne is really bad at feelings and Noah has no experience with this kind of thing.





	Confidence is Key

**Author's Note:**

> I am officially a Noah Grossman fangirl. I kid you not. I mean, he’d just so dorky in the cutest way, and you can just see that everyone loves him, and he loves them back! Anyways, this was written to celebrate my surviving one week of college classes, while I ignored the fact that there was a concert at the student center. I decided to enjoy my first weekend eve by watching Smosh Pit and Smosh 2nd Channel videos, and I watched the Clothes Swap Challenge, and absolutely knew that I had to write a fanfiction about it.  
> Anyways, while this is not my first Smosh fanfic, this is my first about people or pairing other than the original Smosh Games crew or Jovanthony. I will do everything in my power to keep the characters realistic, but if I don’t, feel free to let me know.  
> This story is a Noah/Shayne, with Keith/Noah friendship and Courtney/Olivia/Noah friendship. Fair warning for possible triggers, including very bad portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters with possible stereotypes, homosexual relationships and anything else. Don’t kill me. I have a few Agents of SHIELD fanfictions that need my nurturing until they’ve matured into a fully-fledged fanfiction with at least one follower and one review each.  
> Disclaimer, my only connections to the Smosh Squad, their videos and all other recognizable content is being a complete and utter fangirl subscribed to their channels and writing fanfiction about them.

“You know what Noah?” Courtney asked as she got her clothes back from the Jewish teen. They had just finished filming a challenge that had the entire squad swap outfits. In the end, Noah had been wearing Courtney’s tank top and jeans, while she rocked Keith’s hipster ensemble. Keith had ended up in Noah’s sweater and jeans, and Shayne had traded with Olivia, trading baggy pants, boots and a t-shirt for a short flower dress, bandana and Japanese beanie.  
“You really did look hot in Keith’s clothes, and mine for that matter.” She continued, sneaking a peek as Noah pulled off the tank top and bra. He glanced back at her and blushed, letting out a nervous laugh.  
“I mean, it was just clothes.” He stuttered. He actually had enjoyed the outfits he had traded. Not just Keith’s clothes, but a small part of him preferred the outfit Courtney had traded him. It got Shayne’s attention, and Noah could almost still feel the blonde’s gaze scanning up and down his body. The thought made him shiver and blush again.  
“You okay?” his friend inquired, having noticed the shiver. Courtney wasn’t an idiot; she had seen how heated Shayne’s reaction had been. She knew that there was something between the two, but it was clear in her mind that Noah would never act on, or believe in, those feelings.  
“Y…yeah, I’m good. Just… it’s kind of chilly in here isn’t it?” he stammered, before sinking back into his thoughts. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Noah jolted. Keith poked his head in.  
“Hey, can I get my clothes back now? Not that I’m not rockin’ this sweater but…” he noticed Noah just handing Courtney her pants and backed away. She smiled at him and proceeded to tug on the skinny jeans.  
“Of course, I was almost finished in here anyways. I’ll let you two swap back.” She stated, before sauntering towards Keith. Just before she reached the door, she grabbed his shoulder, checking to make sure that Noah’s back was turned.  
“Talk to him. Something’s up and it has to do with Shayne. I’ll talk to him, you convince Noah. If that doesn’t work, text me. Olivia and I have a backup plan.” Patting him on the back, Courtney dashed out of the dressing room, leaving Keith alone with one of his closest friends, about to start an awkward conversation that he knew would end badly best case.  
Shrugging the jumper off, the African-American gamer turned to his friend. He opened his mouth, about to ask him a question, then stopped. He tried again, then froze. There was just no good way to start this whole thing! How’s a dude supposed to convince his best friend that another close friend had feelings that go way past the bromance boundaries?  
“So… that was fun.” Keith mentally smacked himself. Noah turned at the comment, letting out a huff of laughter.  
“Yeah, if you call a friend practically eating you alive with stares fun.” He muttered, Shayne’s stare once more dominating his thoughts.  
“Nothing wrong with that man. I mean it’s obvious that you were hot, so what’s the problem?” Noah spun around to face his friend, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and horror.  
“It…it’s… it’s Shayne! The guy who is crushing on Courtney, and probably thinks about Olivia in the same way!” he almost shrieked, face red as he considered the implications of the event of not even an hour ago. Keith gave his friend an odd look before laughing.  
“Dude, you know it’s me who likes Olivia, and Courtney thinks he’s an annoying brother. Besides, she had Damien, so why would she return his feelings?” he choked out between laughs. Noah’s face reddened even more, and he looked like he might cry from embarrassment, so Keith stopped.  
“Look, all I’m saying man is that it was a compliment. He thought you were hot, heck all of us thought you were smoking! If we weren’t brothers, and we weren’t on camera, I might have done what Courtney did when she saw you in my clothes and then some. That is… I just made it worse didn’t I?” he trailed off. Noah’s eyes were screwed shut and he started nodding frantically, wishing he could be anywhere but there. As quickly as he could, he pulled on the rest of his clothes and darted out of the room, barely stopping long enough to grab his bag before running out of the office.  
Keith sighed. He knew he screwed up. Honestly, he knew that the girl’s back up plan would have gone better as a plan A. Anything would have been better than letting him put his foot in his mouth and letting it take control.  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
Noah practically sprinted out of the dressing room after Keith’s comments registered in his mind. Why did things have to be so confusing? Why did he agree to do the clothes swap? Why did he agree to swap with Courtney? Why didn’t he react to Shayne’s reaction? Why did Shayne stare at him? Why would Shayne think he’s hot? Why would Shayne think anything of him at all?  
He stopped off at his desk and frantically packed up his bag before running out of the building. All he was was a dorky, awkward Jewish gamer who was too nerdy for someone like Shayne. He wasn’t attractive, he was lanky and tall. He wasn’t attractive, he could barely string two words together sometimes. He wasn’t hot… was he?  
Sighing, he realized that Keith was supposed to drive him home, but he really didn’t want to interact with anyone. That day had been way to embarrassing for him. He started to walk, aimlessly heading in the direction of his apartment. His phone buzzed in his pocket, startling him out of his thoughts.  
Pulling it out, he saw he had a text from Courtney.  
‘U OK? U ran out.’ Sighing, Noah sent a quick reply.  
‘Fine. Just needed some space.’ Text flung into cyber space, he kept walking, thoughts swirling in his head. A buzz had him checking his phone again.  
‘K, text if you need me .’ Smiling at his friend’s emoji, he continued until he reached his apartment. He unlocked the door and went inside, dropping his bag by the door and kicking off his shoes. Padding forward, he tugged off his sweater and went to toss it on his bed before he stopped and stared at the article of clothing in his hand.  
Sure it was one of his favorite sweaters, but it was boxy and old and worn. A rush of heat filled him as he realized that of course Keith switched with him. No one else would have wanted to. Why would they? Self-deprecation burned in his mind as he started thinking about all the clothing he owned. Nothing was really that nice, or good looking. Most of it was pretty shapeless, not that he’d ever considered it before. He moved into his room, pulling open his closet and digging through the items in there. Some fell to the ground as he practically ripped clothes off the hangers, searching for something to prove that he was wrong.  
Time passed as he tore through his entire wardrobe, before he stopped in front of his now messy closet. Every negative thought he’d been having rushed through his head leaving him with tears burning in the back of his eyes. Of course Shayne wouldn’t notice him. Of course he’d never react to the Jewish teen. Why would he?  
Dropping to the bed, Noah forcefully swiped the tears that were threatening to fall. He couldn’t think like that. Why should he care what Shayne thought of his clothes?  
‘Because you want him to notice you.’ A traitorous part of him mind whispered. Why should he be so concerned with what Shayne thought about him?  
‘Because you want his attention.’ It continued. Why should he be so frustrated by all this?  
‘Because you like him.’ That dark corner hissed, mockingly. Tears dripped down his face. Who cared? He flopped backwards, curling up and crying. He was so stupid.  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
“Keith! Where did Noah go?” Olivia called, having seen her friend run out of the building.  
“I don’t know girl. I tried to tell Courtney that it wouldn’t work, but she didn’t want to hear it.” He complained.  
“Tell Courtney what wouldn’t work?” she asked.  
“Look, Courtney told me that something was up with Noah, it has to do with Shayne and that I had to convince Noah, whatever that meant. I don’t even know Olivia. Then she said if it didn’t work that you girls had a backup plan or something.” Keith sighed. Olivia frowned, not sure she understood.  
“Well, the only thing I can think of is something to do with Shayne’s reaction during the clothes swap. We all saw how Shayne was watching Noah and how Noah reacted, so maybe…” The gamers turned to each other.  
“You don’t think…?”  
“Maybe, but could it be…?”  
“Shayne likes Noah?”  
“Noah likes Shayne?” they blurted out at the same time.  
“No wonder Courtney said she was going to talk to Shayne!” Keith groaned.  
“She’s gonna try and get them to admit their feelings.” He continued.  
“That doesn’t make sense though. Court told me that she was going to do some of the editing, and that I was to keep Shayne away as much as possible.” Olivia said. Both frowned, confused at the actions of their friends.  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
When Noah finally stopped crying, he realized a few hours had passed. Sighing, he forced himself upright, and looked at the mess he’d made before he had broken down. He reached over and grabbed his phone, noticing he had 3 new messages and 2 missed calls, all from Courtney.  
‘U sure ur ok? U seemed upset.’  
‘Call me when u get this. Have something I need to ask u.’  
‘Noah? Do u want me to come over?’  
He unlocked his phone and went to answer her last text.  
‘Yeah, I do. Please?’ Sending the message, he laid back down and tried to catch his breath. He knew he probably looked terrible, but he felt so heavy and down, he couldn’t bring himself to care much. The same thoughts that made him into a sobbing mess lurked at the edge of his mind, making him shudder and shake his head sharply, trying to banish any mention of Shayne. His phone buzzed again.  
‘On my way.’ He sighed and decided to just wait for his friend to arrive.  
Time passed much too slowly for the young man, until finally, there was a knock on the door. Heaving himself to his feet, he stumbled to the front door, pulling it open to reveal his best girl friend, Courtney. She stared at him, taking in his red rimmed, puffy eyes, tear streaked face and absolutely miserable expression.  
“Aw, Noah.” She moaned, pulling the gamer into her arms. He practically collapsed in her arms, clinging to her tank top like a life line. Carefully, she steered them back into his apartment, dislodging him just enough that she could maneuver the door closed, and guide them into her friend’s bedroom. The first thing she saw was the clothes thrown everywhere, and the rumpled covers on the bed. That was the final straw for her.  
Noah usually was a really neat person, always keeping his desk cleaner than anyone else. For his room to be in such a state worried Courtney. The last time she had seen his room in anywhere close to this state was when he was so sick he could barely stay awake, let alone worry about his room. Even then, the first thing he did once he was better was clean. For him to be this way had Courtney wondering if she would have to kill someone.  
She gently pushed Noah so he was sitting on his bed before she joined him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He whimpered quietly and buried his head into the side of her neck. The two sat in silence, Noah not sure what to say, and Courtney not wanting to push her friend into doing something that would upset him even more.  
“Why are feelings so complicated?” he whispered, barely making any sound.  
“Because they are one of the few things that we have no control of. It’s not like we can control what we like, or what we’re afraid of.” She soothed him. He snuggled closer, returning her sideways hug, relishing in the warm contact he had.  
“Not only that, but we don’t always know what they are until they are overwhelming us. Or that they’re there. It’s just one of those things that we need to figure out on our own.” Noah shook his head slightly, not wanting to be alone in this. The silence returned, lasting less time than before.  
“I never thought about how much clothes matter in making a person confident.” Noah stated, pausing at the end. Courtney stayed quiet, knowing that interrupting wouldn’t help.  
“Actually, I never realized how much attention changing some part of your look gets.” He laughed bitterly, mind flashing back to Shayne’s reaction.  
“It’s as if physical appearance is the only thing that matters to some people, and they could not care less about anything else. So what if they are the kindest people of earth? They wear chunky glasses. So what if they are willing to do anything to overcome their biggest fear? They are completely awkward. So what if they genuinely like the other person? Their clothes are boxy.” Noah ranted, voice cracking on the word ‘like’. Courtney let him rant and complain, starting to get an idea about what was going on.  
“It’s not like they haven’t tried to get the other person’s attention, no sir. They just aren’t attractive enough to get anything more than some teasing. It’s not like I haven’t tried to change, but nothing has changed for him. I’m still just geeky, awkward…” She registered that his speech changed from third person to first person, and knew at that moment what was going on.  
“Noah? As much as I love hearing you talk about this, I think we need to figure something out first.” He stopped talking and looked at her, pulling his head away from her shoulder.  
“First, I’m going to call Olivia. Us three are going to have a sleepover here tonight. Then, we’re going to go out and buy as much junk food as we can eat in one night. Next, we’re going to watch some trashy comedy movies. Maybe rom-coms, maybe just some bad Adam Sandler, I don’t know. Then, we’re going to watch those movies until we fall asleep. Once we wake up, the three of us will get breakfast, then spend all of tomorrow together.” She met his confused stare.  
“If you want to talk about what’s bugging you, that’s fine. If you want to use these next few days to pretend that today never happened, great! But no matter what you decide, Olivia and I are going to be here for you, to cheer you up, and to bring back funny, happy Noah.” He choked out a watery laugh.  
“Okay. That sounds… that sounds really good actually.” Clapping her hands, Courtney pulled Noah to his feet, shoving him towards the bathroom.  
“Go get yourself cleaned up a bit, I’ll call Olivia and then once I know how long it’ll be until she shows up, we’ll pick some junk food to put in our bodies tonight.” He laughed a bit more, sounding happier already. As the bathroom door closed, Courtney pulled out her phone, sending off a text to Olivia.  
‘U busy?’  
‘No, wassup?’  
‘Sleepover @ Noah’s. Something really happened with Shayne.’  
‘Be there soon. Want me to bring anything?’  
‘Comedy movies and your wallet. Junk food party!’  
‘Gimme 30 minutes. C U soon!’  
“Noah? Olivia will be here in half an hour. If you don’t want her seeing your boxers everywhere, I’d suggest cleaning them up.” She yelled to her friend.  
“Got it!”  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
A knock on the door had Courtney getting up from where she was sitting on the couch on her phone. Pulling open the door, she found Olivia standing there with a duffel bag and a worried expression.  
“How bad is it?” she whispered, not sure where Noah was.  
“Messy room bad.” Courtney replied, causing Olivia to inhale sharply. She too knew what it meant if Noah was messy. Ushering her friend inside, she closed the door and let Olivia move in to drop her bag on the ground. The thunk echoed through the apartment and Noah poked his head out of the bedroom. His eyes were still slightly red and puffy, but not as much as they had been a short time ago.  
“Hey Olivia!” he said, walking out to hug his Asian friend. The two embraced before he let go, keeping his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the couch. They flopped down without grace and started laughing at how silly it seemed.  
“You guys are weird.” Courtney giggled, unable to contain her joy at seeing Noah laugh. She couldn’t resist plopping down next to her friends.  
“Ha, you know you love us though!” he laughed. For some reason, he felt much lighter than he had a few minutes ago. Maybe it was being with his friends, but that lightness made him feel great.  
“I was told this was going to be a junk food party? So are we going to get food or what?” Olivia asked. Noah let out a bark of laughter, pushing himself off the couch and grabbing both Olivia and Courtney’s hands, leaning back as he pulled them up. The girls exchanged a look before pulling right back. With a yelp, Noah went tumbling back onto the couch, sprawling over his friends who started laughing. As the hilarity of the situation dawned on him, he began to crack up as well. They continued to laugh until Noah finally rolled off the girls and grabbed his wallet.  
“Onwards to the food!” He called. Giggling, Olivia jumped up as well.  
“Bring on the food!” Cackling, Courtney hoisted herself up.  
“If you ask me to be food girl…” The trio dissolved into laughter once more as they all quoted Noah’s show.  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
Less than an hour later, the group was laughing and joking as the carried bags of chips, candy and soda into Noah’s apartment. He got everything into the kitchen and they spread their hoard out on the counter.  
“Well, I think this should last us for a while.” Noah decided. Courtney laughed and turned to Olivia.  
“We should change into our PJs. After all, what’s a movie night without comfy clothes?” The girls laughed and Noah flashed them a grin.  
“Well, you girls know where to go.” They smiled and grabbed their bags, having stopped by Courtney’s place on the way back from their snack run, and made their way to the bedroom to change.  
“So… you said it was messy room bad?” Olivia confirmed as she closed the door.  
“Mhm. The only reason it’s not bad now is that I told him that if he didn’t want you seeing his boxers he should clean it up.” Courtney motioned for Olivia to sit on the bed.  
“I gotta be honest with you. I wasn’t sure he’d let me in, or say that yeah, you could come over. You didn’t see him Liv. He looked like someone had ripped out his heart and had been torturing it. I’ve never seen him so upset before. And it’s all because of that video we did.” Courtney sighed.  
“The clothes swap? I thought it was cute, and I mean, Noah did look hot in Keith’s clothes and yours. What’s the problem?” Olivia asked.  
“That’s just it. He looked hot, Shayne noticed, and looked like he wanted to jump Noah. But Shayne’s never noticed him like that before! Now, he apparently wants to jumps him, and Noah’s confused because he really likes Shayne, but now… he feels like Shayne doesn’t want him because of his clothes.” Courtney explained, making Olivia frown.  
“But Shayne does want him. He told me that he never realized just how hot Noah was. He said he knew Noah was attractive but he didn’t realize what he was hiding. He even said that if it wasn’t in front of a camera and he wasn’t in a dress, he would have kissed Noah and told him he liked him!” Olivia countered, causing Courtney to gasp.  
“How do we get them to admit it though? It’s obvious that they won’t do it on their own.” The girls began to change as they tried to come up with an idea.  
“We wait.” Courtney decided. “I told Noah that if he wants to talk about what’s bugging him, he can. If he wants to forget it happened, he can. So if he decides to talk, we help. If he wants to forget, we gently nudge Shayne into doing something.”  
Olivia nodded. It made perfect sense. If Noah wanted to do something, they’d help him. If he didn’t, they’d give Shayne a push. Speaking of…  
“Hey, you girls done in there? I kind of want to get in my pajamas too.” Noah called through the door. The girls exchanged a look and Courtney pulled open the door to reveal their friend standing there awkwardly.  
He swapped places with the girls, closing the door before freezing momentarily as he thought about changing clothes.  
‘No Noah. They’re just PJs, and these are your best friends. It doesn’t matter.’ Repeating that mantra in his head, he switched his jeans, sweater and t-shirt for his favorite pair of Gryffindor PJ bottoms and a Detroit t-shirt. When he walked out of his room, he found the girls had grabbed a few blankets and pillows, spread out the snacks on his small coffee table and popped in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. They patted the couch in between them, and with a small grin, he joined them, pressing play as he sat down.  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
Part way through the movie, negative thoughts began to creep back into Noah’s head. He forced himself to focus on the movie, hoping they would just leave him alone. They pressed closer, and he curled in on himself, trying not to think about it. As he curled up, he bumped Courtney’s side, and she turned to him. Seeing him try to hide, she quickly paused the movie, drawing Olivia’s attention to the gamer scrunched between them.  
“Noah?” she whispered, hoping her friend was okay. He looked at her, tears shining in his eyes. Courtney and Olivia exchanged glances before they pressed closer to him, wrapping him in their arms as sadness and confusion overwhelmed him and he began to cry again. They held him tight as he shook and sobbed between them, gasped words saddening the girls as much as they did him.  
“Why doesn’t he like me? Why can’t he like me? Why doesn’t he see me?” He choked out, barely able to process the words that came out of his mouth in a flood of despair.  
“I like him! I like him a lot! But he doesn’t see me! Because… because I’m not attractive. I wear boxy clothes and, and, and chunky glasses, and I’m awkward, and weird, and…. Why can’t he like me back?” Tears sprung in the eyes of his friends as they listened to him pouring out his emotions, distressed by the fact that Shayne was an idiot, not that Noah realized that.  
Slowly, and after a much longer time than either of his previous bouts of emotion, the tears began to subside, leaving him feeling drained and raw. Courtney and Olivia’s arms were still around him and he snuggled closer to both of them, trying to feel warm in a way he hadn’t all day. They squished even closer until they were almost on top of him. Courtney grabbed a blanket that had fallen to the floor during their emotional moment and wrapped it tightly around the trio of gamers. Silence engulfed them as they all slowly calmed down.  
“You know, for someone who doesn’t think they’re attractive, you sure looked confident in Keith and my clothes earlier.” Courtney noted quietly. Noah’s head popped up from their cuddle pile, and he stared at his friend, confused.  
“We all noticed it Noah. You looked like you were ready to do anything.” Olivia agreed. “Maybe that’s all you need. A little makeover to give you a boost.”  
“You can say no if you want.” Courtney interjected, somewhat shocked by Olivia’s identical idea. “But if Sh… he-who’s-name-will-not-be-said doesn’t do anything after that, then he’s an idiot, and either one of us would be more than willing to help you through it.”  
Noah looked at his friends, mulling over the idea in his head. Wasn’t that why he got upset earlier? Maybe a different look would do him some good.  
“What were you thinking?” He choked out, throat dry from sobbing. Olivia handed him his bottle of soda and he took a long drink, letting the cool liquid sooth his throat even as the carbonation tingled.  
“Tomorrow, we wake up, get breakfast out and then we shop. We shop until evening, then we come back here and we sort out your clothes. We have dinner, maybe sleep over another night, your call, and then you walk into work on Monday, and surprise the heck out of everyone.” Courtney planned.  
“Sounds good.” Noah decided, before he stopped, staring at the screen that still displayed the movie.  
“Can we switch movies? I’m not really feeling rom-com at the moment.” He admitted sheepishly. Courtney and Olivia laughed, before diving into the Asian girl’s bag for the movies she brought.  
“Okay, ‘School of Rock’, ‘Kung Fu Panda’, or ‘Nacho Libre’?” Noah stared at his friend.  
“In other words, musical Jack Black, animated panda Jack Black or luchador Jack Black?” Courtney asked with a snort.  
“What? He’s funny!” Olivia defended her choices.  
“Let’s go with ‘Kung Fu Panda’. I could use some stupid martial arts.” Noah decided. With a laugh, Olivia swapped disks, and the trio relaxed as the soothing animation appeared on screen, giving way to martial arts antics and goofy moments.  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
“I really don’t know about this guys.” Noah stammered as they walked across the parking lot to the mall. “I mean it you guys, I’m sort of reconsidering this whole thing.” Courtney kept a firm grip on his arm as she almost dragged him along, Olivia walking ahead of them slightly, checking the mall directory on her phone.  
“Noah, you said this was a good idea. Look, I’ll make you a deal. We find one outfit that makes you feel confident. If, after that point, you are miserable, and really don’t think you want to keep going, we’ll leave. But you have to find one outfit.” Courtney compromised.  
“Okay, but one outfit only. Then I choose if we stay or go.” He agreed. The blond linked her arm through his and kept pulling him along, Olivia stopping to let them catch up. The trio made their way into the mall, and looked around for which store to start at.  
===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===0===  
“Noah, are you done yet? We really want to see!” Olivia called to her friend who was in a dressing room. Between her and Courtney, they had managed to get their friend into a store and with a few outfits in hand to try.  
“Just, gimme a sec? I’m still having doubts about this.” He admitted, not willing to look in the mirror.  
“Come on, the worst thing that could happen is none of the clothes work, and we go on to the next store. The sooner you show us, the sooner we leave!” Courtney reminded him. Taking a deep breath, Noah opened the changing room door and walked out to where his friends sat.  
The girl’s jaws dropped. Noah looked amazing. He was wearing a pair of dark grey skinny jeans that hugged him in all the right places with a pair of combat boots similar to the one’s Keith had worn the day before. A snug, but not insanely tight burgundy V-neck shirt hung off his frame, just loose enough to move with him. He wore a dark grey leather jacket that matched his jeans, and a black belt was barely visible under the shirt. He looked hot.  
“Guys? Why are you staring at me?” He asked, voice shaking slightly. He had no clue why his friends were staring at him like they wanted to rip his clothes off. Was it that bad?  
“Holy crap Noah! You look sexy!” Courtney exclaimed, snapping out of her stare. Discreetly, she wiped the corners of her mouth, getting rid of the evidence that she had been close to drooling. Next to her, Olivia covered her mouth, doing the exact same while nodding her head frantically.  
“You mean, it’s not bad?” he checked. He hadn’t thought to look, not wanting to see himself. Olivia let out a non-verbal sound of shock.  
“You can’t tell? Noah! You look amazing!” she gasped.  
“I didn’t look.” He admitted quietly. The ‘I was scared’ was left unsaid, but the girls picked up on it, and went to stand on either side of him.  
“Close your eyes Noah.” Courtney ordered. He did, and the girls carefully maneuvered him so he was standing in front of the full length mirror on the wall.  
“We wouldn’t lie to you. Take a look.” Noah slowly opened his eyes, worried about what he would see. The moment his eyes opened fully, he inhaled sharply as he looked at his reflection.  
It didn’t seem like him. The person in the mirror, it couldn’t be him. That person was wearing clothes that made him look like he was confident. He was cool, he was bold, he was attractive. Noah blinked, but the image didn’t change. He looked cool, he looked confident. He looked…  
“Wow.” He breathed, taking it in. This was the person he had been trying to become. This was the person he wanted to be. He turned to his friends who were grinning broadly at him.  
“Told ya we wouldn’t lie.” Olivia whispered. Unconsciously, he straightened his back, pulling his shoulders away from where they had been hunched and standing tall.  
“You have to get this outfit.” Courtney decided. “You already look ready to take on the world!” He laughed, still unable to believe that the person in the mirror was him. The realization struck him that he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to look like this.  
“Sounds good.” He agreed. He changed back into his usual clothes, and the trio paid for the outfit. Courtney and Olivia started heading towards the exit, but Noah stopped. The girls turned around.  
“Noah? You coming?” He shifted slightly on the spot, not noticing the girls exchange a smile.  
“Well, you said once we got one outfit, it was my choice. Can we… I mean… can we… keep going?” He stuttered out, blush staining his cheeks. The girls turned to each other, smiled and went over to their friend, linking arms with him.  
“We’d have luck at Denim Bar, don’t you think Olivia?” Courtney chirped  
“I’d have to agree Courtney. And we must stop at Churro Stix on the way. We can’t think about shopping without some sugary goodness.” Olivia chimed in, smiling.  
“And then there are lots of other shops we should stop at. Right Noah?” Courtney continued with a grin.  
“Yeah!” Noah said. Suddenly, he was feeling much better about things. The trio joked around as they headed to the next store.  
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“So, I’d say the first thing to do would be sort out what we got, and then get rid of things from there.” Courtney suggested. They had just gotten back to Noah’s apartment, and were looking at his closet.  
“Makes sense. I know that there is a decent amount of things to throw out, but I don’t want to get rid of everything.” Noah agreed, looking over at Olivia, who was moving hangers out of the way.  
“Let’s start with shirts. There are some baggier shirts I kept because I wear them underneath my sweaters, but I don’t really like them.” He opened a drawer, pulling out the old tops, chucking them to the ground in the area they had designated as the ‘Get Rid Of’ pile. Courtney looked over each of them, moving some to the ‘Donate’ pile, and a few others to the trash pile.  
“Are you keeping these sweaters?” Olivia asked, holding up some oversized garments for him to see. Noah nodded. He liked having big sweaters to wrap up in when it was cold. His Asian friend placed them on the bed.  
They sorted through the clothes, piece by piece, until they had two large piles on the floor and a mound of clothes on the bed, in addition to the bags at the end of the bed. Working as a group, the pile of bags slowly diminished, and Noah’s closet and dresser filled up again.  
“You sure you don’t want to do a sleepover part 2?” Courtney asked her friend as she picked up her bag.  
“Yeah, I’m sure. Don’t be surprised though if I text you tomorrow night asking what I should wear.” She let out a laugh and gave Noah a big hug, before walking out the door. As he closed the door behind him, Noah took a deep breath. Things were starting to look up. He knew that there’d be a big reaction on Monday, but he found he didn’t care. More than that, he couldn’t wait. He wanted everyone to see him. He wanted the attention. Yeah, he’d blush and stutter at the attention, but he was excited. After all, besides Anthony and his hair, how often did a Smosh member walk into work with a whole new look?  
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Sunday passed much faster than Noah ever imagined, and almost too soon, it was Monday, and time for him to go to work. He decided to just wear the outfit that he and the girls had found first, and he put it on, running a comb through his hair. All of a sudden, his phone buzzed.  
‘Need a ride?’ He smiled at Courtney’s text, sending back a quick yes, before packing up his bag. A few minutes later, there was a knock on his door. Noah opened it with a smile, his friend standing on the other side in a tank top, bomber jacket and jeans.  
“Ready to wow the crowd?” She asked in a voice similar to a wrestling announcer. Letting out a laugh, Noah answered.  
“Yup, let’s get going!” The two made their way out of his apartment, getting in Courtney’s car. As soon as she turned on the radio, ‘Eye of the Tiger’ came blasting through the speakers. The duo exchanged a glance before dancing in place.  
“Rising up, back on the streets!” Noah belted out, smiling.  
“Did my time took my chances.” Courtney sang in reply. The song played on as the two arrived at Smosh Headquarters. Pulling her keys out, Courtney turned to her friend.  
“You’ve got this.” She reminded him. He gave her a shy smile, nodding as he grabbed his things. They made their way into the studio, and noticed Olivia standing in the lobby.  
“Oh my gosh Noah! They’ll be speechless.” He straightened under their compliments, and the trio walked towards their office.  
“Hey Court, I had an idea for… Noah?!” A voice called behind them. Turning around, they saw Keith staring at them, eyes wide with shock.  
“Um, yeah. What do you think?” Keith took in his friend’s outfit; jeans skinnier than he thought Noah owned, a fitted t-shirt that looked great on him and a jacket matching the pants.  
“Holy crap man, you look hot! But wait… did you take my boots?” He asked. Noah started laughing, flashing back to the clothes swap challenge when everyone suggested he get the boots Keith had been wearing.  
“No, these are mine. You really think I look good?” He checked. Keith nodded, not at all ashamed to admit he snuck a peek at the back end of his friend as Noah began to walk away, arm in arm with Olivia and Courtney. Noah noticed that he got some odd looks, both positive and confused, but overall, he didn’t really care.  
When they entered their office space, the group noticed that Shayne hadn’t arrived or was elsewhere in the building.  
“So, about that idea I had. I ran it past Sonny and Ian, and they told me if I could get you guys on board, we could go ahead a do it.”  
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“Yeah that would totally work!” Noah laughed. What had started out as a simple possibility had turned into a bizarre planning session that had every one of them in stitches. As they moved closer and closer to the weird side of scripts, they laughed harder and harder to the point where none of them noticed when Shayne entered the room and almost immediately left. No one except for Noah.  
“Hey guys, I’ll be right back.” Barely waiting for a response, he got up and chased after his friend.  
“Shayne! Why’d you walk out? We would have really loved your input on the new skit. So the idea is…”  
“Keith can fill me in later.” Shayne cut him off, freezing Noah in his tracks. Was his friend sick or something? He noticed Shayne walk off, but decided that he must just be in a bad mood. Maybe he overslept?  
Throughout the day, Noah kept trying to talk to Shayne, but each time he tried, the blonde brushed him off with a curt answer or a sound that could have many meanings. Finally, Noah managed to corner his friend.  
“Hey, man, are you okay?” He asked, reaching out to put a hand on Shayne’s shoulder. The blonde moved away from his touch and Noah pulled back, hurt. Why wouldn’t Shayne look at him? Had he done something wrong?  
“I’m fine.” Shayne snapped. Noah didn’t back down though. He wanted to talk to Shayne. Couldn’t his friend understand that he was worried?  
“Are you feeling okay? Did you not like the idea we had? Cause we could change it. Or did something happen to your family?”  
“Shut up Noah. Just…don’t talk to me.” Shayne barked, cutting off his friend in the middle of his questions. Taking a deep breath, he turned his back on his friend.  
He quickly walked away, leaving Noah staring after him. He stared and stared down the hallway his friend had walked down, barely breathing. Was this some kind of bad dream? Did he misunderstand something? Did he do everything for nothing?  
“Noah, was that Shayne?” Keith questioned, walking up behind his closest friend. When Noah looked at him, all Keith could see was pain and worry.  
“Okay. Yup, you need a hug. And the girls. Let’s go.” He guided the Jewish teen back to a room the squad had claimed as their own early on in their employment. They had decorated the old storage room with bright colors and loud patterns, Christmas lights and bean bag chairs. It was their hiding spot when a rivalry got too out of hand, a sanctuary of quiet after a loud day of filming. Maneuvering his friend into one of the squishy chairs, the Ohioan pulled out his phone and snapped off a message to the girls.  
‘SOS. Shayne wuz here. Noah=upset. In hidey-hole.’ Almost immediately, he received two responses.  
‘HE WHAT? Oh hell no. On my way. Bringing sugar.’  
‘Not again! Poor Noah. I hate Shayne right now. With Court. I’ve got the snuggles.’  
Sighing in relief, he turned back to his friend, who had curled himself up around a large round cushion and was clearly fighting back tears. Even from a distance, Keith could see that Noah was trembling slightly, and that worried him. Noah was always very composed, only really showing his negative emotions if they were really strong, or if he was being forced to do something he didn’t want to do. To see his friend like this made him hope that the girls were close.  
It felt like forever until the blonde and brunette girls walked into the room, Courtney carrying what looked to be the sweet contents of the vending machine and Olivia dragging the fluffy blanket and mermaid pillow that normally sat on the office couch. Not even saying a word, they walked right over to the couch and curled themselves on either side of their young friend. Keith wedged himself between Olivia and the arm of the couch and they sat in silent support.  
“He won’t talk to me.” Noah quietly admitted, voice shaking and cracking as he spoke. Courtney frowned, but hugged her friend closer, mentally figuring out what to do about the idiotic blonde that was the cause of Noah’s pain.  
“So what? If he doesn’t notice you, who cares? He’s the idiot here. He’s the one missing out.” Keith stated.  
“Noah, you did this for you. Maybe Shayne was part of it, but did you think about him once when we were shopping? Did he even cross your mind when you said you weren’t done? Did you even think about how he might react when he saw you?” Courtney asked. Noah took a deep breath and shook his head.  
“He didn’t. I just thought… the way he reacted when we did the clothes swap…” He trailed off.  
“In case you’d forgotten, all of us reacted that way. Seriously Noah, you were rocking it! Besides, it’s like Court said. You did this for you.” Olivia reminded her friend. Noah looked up at his friends, tears shining in his eyes.  
“Now man up and have some candy.” Courtney demanded before he could say anything. Choking out a laugh, Noah picked up a bag of M&Ms and tore it open. As Olivia did the same with a bag of Skittles, neither one was prepared for the candies to explode out of the packaging, flying all over the foursome. There was a moment of shocked silence before they all burst into laughter. Keith scrambled trying to pick out the Skittles from the M&Ms, only to send them skidding across the floor. The four friends laughed so hard that they never noticed the door opening slightly, before closing just as quietly.  
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Shayne walked down the hallways silently. He felt terrible. He knew he’d been acting like an ass towards Noah all day. He just couldn’t help it. Against his will, he found himself moving towards the Squad closet, thinking he might be able to have some time alone. As he opened the door however, he heard laughter and caught a glimpse of Keith chasing some candies, and the other three laughing. He closed the door quickly though, not wanting to disturb them.  
What had he done? He had seen Noah’s eyes shining. He knew that it was his fault that Noah had been upset. But what was he supposed to do? Make a fool of himself?  
Internally, he knew he shouldn’t have pushed away his friend. He should have realized that it was a bad idea to push Noah like that. But when he had walked out the previous Friday in Keith’s clothes during the video, he almost died. He died even more when Noah swapped clothes with Courtney. Never before had he been so close to jumping the Jewish teen.  
Seeing him in that tank top, showing off his slender arms and torso that he just wanted to grip tightly as he pressed Noah against a wall to kiss him. Those grey skinny jeans that hugged him in all the right places, making Shayne’s dick harden at the thought of peeling them off, revealing what was underneath, showcasing those long thin legs that would wrap around him perfectly as he…  
There was no denying it. He was in love with Noah Grossman. There was no way to pass it off as a phase, or a crush, or simple attraction to him. He was in love.  
When Noah had walked in that morning in those skinny jeans and fitted t-shirt, it took all of Shayne’s willpower not to slam the younger male into the wall and have his wicked way with him. Noah had chased after him too, trying to tell him about a video idea, catching him when it was just the two of them in the hall. He could barely resist grabbing the teen and pulling him into a kiss. He tried to brush his friend off, but he had almost forgotten how persistent Noah could be when he was worried about someone. It seemed like Noah was trying to set him off, cornering him when he was alone, talking to him in that higher voice that he could just imagine screaming his name as he took him. When it got to be too much, he snapped, telling Noah to shut up, but wanting to yell at him how much he wanted to take him, ravish him. He had run away before he could see what Noah would do. He was aching to just take action already, but he didn’t want to hurt his friend.  
And yet, he ended up hurting his friend even more that he had feared. Stopping in an empty corridor, he banged his head against the wall. What had he done? Best case scenario, Noah never spoke to him again. Worst case, the others would murder him for what he had unintentionally done. Hell, they probably were already planning his demise. Courtney for sure, Olivia, maybe, Keith, oh hell no, he knew he was dead. And that was only how the rest of the Squad would react. The rest of Smosh was a whole other story.  
It was no secret that Joven and Sohinki were like older brothers to Noah. Noah could practically be their love child! They would probably plot with Courtney to make his death as painful as possible. By upsetting Noah, Shayne knew he had also upset Olivia, which would in turn upset Mari, who would tell Lasercorn, and then everyone would want him dead. He wouldn’t be surprised if Wes got mad at him too.  
He had to fix this somehow. But what could he do? He had pissed off the scariest people in the building, even if they didn’t know they had a reason to be pissed yet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure marching towards him, a blonde figure with fists clenched: Courtney.  
“What the hell Shayne?!” She screeched. Shayne kept his head down. There was no escaping. He fucked up big time.  
“How could you do that to Noah?! First how you treated him on Friday, now this? Are you trying to turn us into serial killers?!” She ranted, glaring at the blond who had hurt her friend. As she stared, she noticed that he wasn’t even trying to defend himself. She saw red.  
“Aren’t you going to say something?! C’mon you coward! Fess up! What the fuck is going on?!” She screamed, not noticing his flinch. Shayne waited until she stopped to take a breath before he let out a bitter laugh.  
“I fucked up. What do you want me to say? I. Fucked. Up.” He stated, resigned.  
“What I want you to tell me is why! Why would you do such a thing?” Courtney asked him, quieter than before.  
“What else was I supposed to do? Let him corner me like that and have to fight off the urge to just jump him? I couldn’t do that forever!” Shayne yelled. He panted slightly, watching as his friend’s eyes widened.  
“I couldn’t fight forever. Honestly, it’s a miracle that you didn’t find Noah upset because I had my way with him.” He chuckled bitterly.  
“You mean… you’ve been avoiding him because you… like him?” Courtney clarified. Shayne nodded.  
“More than that. I’ve been avoiding him because I just want to take him. Kiss him, strip him… I don’t want to hurt him.” He admitted.  
“Then you’d better fix this. He’s fine now, but I don’t want him to see you for the rest of the day. I don’t want him anymore upset.” Shayne nodded sadly.  
What had he done?  
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Noah sighed heavily as he entered his apartment, feeling thoroughly wrung out. The day had been a confusing mess of an emotional roller coaster. He’d been confident, he had a new look, why wouldn’t he be? He’d been excited; he couldn’t wait for everyone to see. He’d been confused; was Shayne alright? He’d been frustrated; why wouldn’t Shayne talk to him? He’d been upset; Shayne hated him. He’d been happy; candy bags can explode, who knew?! He’d been every emotion he knew other than sick to his stomach, and despite how glad he was about that, he wondered if it would have been better if he was sick.  
He stopped himself before those thoughts could go any further. It wouldn’t do him any good to dwell on what had happened. As he kicked off his shoes, he wondered what he should have for dinner. Shedding his jacket as well, he made his way into the small kitchen and began to search through his fridge. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Frowning slightly, Noah walked over to the entry and opened the door, shocked by what he found.  
“Hey Noah.” Shayne stood in front of him, looking conflicted and upset.  
“Shayne.” Noah stuttered out. What was he doing here?  
“Can we talk?” Shayne asked. Swallowing harshly, Noah silently stepped aside, letting his friend(?) enter. Shayne silently walked in, keeping his distance from the Jewish teen, but not going too far inside the apartment. He knew he had to fix things, but where could he start?  
“Look, Noah… about what happened earlier…” He started, trailing off as Noah closed the front door.  
“I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately, and some things have been changing for me, and…” Noah stopped him with a look.  
“Why are you here?” He asked. Shayne frowned, but Noah wouldn’t back down.  
“You didn’t come here to apologize did you? Why would you? Clearly you don’t want anything to do with me.” He snapped. The frustrations of the day boiling over as he stared at the person who had been behind all his negative emotions over the past four days. In the back of him mind, he knew he shouldn’t get upset; that would make him no better than Shayne.  
“Noah, please. I just want to talk to you.” Shayne begged, watching Noah’s face contort in frustration and anger.  
“Why? You tell me to leave you alone after ignoring me all day, then you show up at my door, suddenly feeling social? What is up with that?” He ranted, hands waving in irritation as he went to move past the blonde. His mind screamed for him to remove himself from the area, and he listened.  
Shayne stood there, frozen, staring as the object of his affections ranted and snapped at him, asking questions he didn’t quite know how to answer. The second his mind registered that Noah was trying to leave, his body reacted without his consent. He grabbed his friend by the shoulders, spun them around, pressed him backwards, and pressed his lips to Noah’s.  
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Noah froze mid-rant, mid-escape as Shayne latched onto him and suddenly began to kiss him. His eyes widened, before realization struck, and he felt himself melt into the kiss. He tentatively began moving with the blonde, almost scared to stop, afraid that this was all a dream, or part of Shayne’s cruelty transferring on.  
The two parted, both breathing heavily, Noah’s breaths coming quicker than his partners’. They rested their foreheads together as they struggled to catch their breath.  
“That’s why.” Shayne whispered, words floating between them. Noah’s eyes fluttered open to stare at the man before him (when had he closed them?).  
“What… what do you mean?” He hoarsely murmured, still in the mindset that this was too good to be true.  
“I had to ignore you. If I hadn’t, what I just did, that would have happened the second I saw you in those jeans.” He explained quietly, hands slowly moving down to rest on his friend’s slender hips.  
“God, I just wanted to grab you, pull you into the nearest room and just… God, I wanted you so bad.” He admitted, voice cracking as he cursed. Noah gently curled his hands around Shayne’s neck, careful fingers beginning to play with the wisps of hair at the nape of his neck.  
“But I couldn’t do that to you. I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to embarrass you, I didn’t want to assume you’d be okay with it, I still think that this may have just ruined our friendship…” Noah cut off the blonde’s rambling by quickly, but calmly repeating what had just been done to him. Shayne felt tears burning slightly in his eyes as he realized that Noah returned his feelings, emotions swirling inside of him, overwhelming him in a chorus.  
‘He likes me back. He likes me back. He doesn’t hate me. Oh thank God, oh thank God!”  
They broke apart once again, Noah watching Shayne’s reaction this time. His emotions shone brightly in his eyes, a mixture of relief, joy and love.  
“After the clothes swap, Courtney made a comment about how I looked in her clothes…” Noah told Shayne everything that had happened over the weekend, from the end of the day on Friday up until the moment he got home less than an hour ago.  
“I never thought I stood a chance. I thought that you hated me. But then you showed up, and…” He cut himself off with a choked out laugh. Shayne watched the range of emotions play over his partner’s face as he described the events that led up to the moment they were in. As Noah finished, Shayne leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek, making the thinner male smile.  
“I’m so sorry I made you feel that way.” He apologized, shaking his head. All he could think was how lucky he was.  
“It’s okay. I mean, if that hadn’t happened, we may not be here right now.” Noah stated with a small grin. The two stood in peaceful silence, breathing in each other’s presence and basking in the warmth that came from standing so close together. With a gentle tug, Noah guided his boyfriend(?) to the couch, where he found himself pulled into a warm, strong embrace. He snuggled closer, tucking his head in the space between Shayne’s shoulder and neck.  
Shayne sighed happily as he felt Noah wiggle closer and place his head against his neck. He wrapped his arms around the smaller male in his arms, and grinned happily as he felt Noah practically melt in his arms.  
“Does this make us a thing?” He couldn’t help but ask. Noah hummed happily, pushing even closer to the warm body next to him.  
“I think so. I don’t have any experience with this you know.” He admitted. Shayne planted a kiss on the top of his head.  
“That’s okay. We’ll figure it out together.” They sank into pleasant silence once again, curled around each other, until a thought struck Noah like a hammer.  
“What are we going to tell Courtney?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully, you guys liked it! It took me forever to connect the ideas and thoughts I had about what could have happened. In all honesty, The only part that I actually pictured in my head was Noah and Shayne talking and then kissing. Everything else kinda just happened. It came out of my mind through my fingers in a jumble of fragments that I struggled to connect.  
> Anyways, like I said... I hope you liked it, flames and hate comments will be used to roast marshmallows, and any feedback is accepted with a massive hug.  
> Hm... should I do a follow up where Noah and Shayne tell Courtney?


End file.
